London borough sends diversity ambassador to Northern Ireland’s council workers

Local authorities across Northern Ireland are learning from London’s Brent Council how best to support women in the workplace.

The council’s head of diversity, Tracy Walters, addressed representatives from all 26 district councils in Northern Ireland at a special event in Belfast last week.

Councils have signed up to an initiative aimed at addressing under-representation of women in local government in Northern Ireland.

Walters explained how Brent had introduced a range of initiatives to support female members of staff, including targeted recruitment, the promotion of work-life balance, and the creation of workshops for parents and carers.

She said: “We at Brent have worked extremely hard over the past few years to ensure we exercise genuine gender equality both in the recruitment process and in the workplace.”

The visit came as Brent was listed as being among 80 ‘exemplar employers’ by Opportunity Now, a campaign group for women’s equality in the workplace.

The list identifies employers who are doing innovative work to provide equal pay and opportunities for women and to tackle male domination in particular areas of work.